Washington , Nov 12 : A new research by archaeologists links the involvement of females in hunting as a possible explanation behind the extinction of the Neanderthals 30,000 years ago.

The study points out that during the Stone Age period, it was also the job of females to hunt wild beats. This might have led to female hunters getting killed with an appalling frequency.

A subsequent high casualty rate among fertile women among the Neanderthals, could have meant demographic disaster for the species, who were already struggling for survival against various factors.

According to a research done by the University of Arizona, archaeological evidence points out that Neanderthal females, unlike Homo Sapien women of the Upper Paleolithic period, joined men in hunts at a time when stabbing giant beasts with a sharp stone affixed to a stick represented the cutting edge of technology.

"All elements of Neanderthal society appear to have been involved in the main subsistence pursuit of hunting large animals, said Steven L. Kuhn from the University of Arizona."There's not much evidence of classic female roles," he added.

"Putting the reproductive core of the population, i.e. pregnant women, mothers of infants, children themselves, at such danger could have put Neanderthals as a whole at serious demographic disadvantage," said Kuhn.

According to Kuhn, "Not only would women suffer casualties, but their full participation
in the hunt would mean they were not harvesting wild grains and other foods that could sustain their roving bands when game was scarce."

Neanderthal s, a species, that along with humans, split from a common ancestor some 500,000 years ago inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia.

The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350,000 years ago. By 130,000 years ago, full blown Neanderthal characteristics had appeared and by 50,000 years ago, Neanderthals disappeared from Asia, although they did not reach extinction in Europe until 33,000 to 24,000 years ago.

It's only in the past few years that scientists have reached broad consensus on what Neanderthals were and weren't.

"Neanderthals were a species of archaic humans that evolved in Europe separately from modern humans," said Daniel E. Lieberman, professor of biological anthropology at Harvard University. "They were very much like us, but they weren't us," he said.

Over the years, archeologists have found out many important features that Neanderthals have.

In addition to immense noses, elongated skulls, and barrel chests, some Neanderthals had flaming red hair, according to an international research team.

This suggests they might have been pale-skinned and very hairy.

The studies also suggest that the Neanderthals were capable of human-like language. This was established with the finding of the FOXP2 gene in two skeletons uncovered in the El Sidron cave in northern Spain recently. This particular gene is known to underlie speech. (ANI)